Stitch control mechanism for sewing machines



May 25, 1954 A. E. BIESEMEYER ET AL 2,679,220

STITCH CONTROL MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed June 1, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l ARTHUR E. BIESEMEYER COURTNEY F. DOLAN J INVENTORS ATTORNEY May 25, 1954 A. E. BIESEMEYER ET AL 2,679,220

STITCH CONTROL MECHANISMFOR SEWING MACHINES Filed June 1, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

Alumnu- Ill ARTHUR E. BIESEMEYER' COURTNEY F. DOL AN INVENTORS ATTORNEY May 25, 1954 A. E. BIESEMEYER ET AL 2,679,220

STITCH CONTROL MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed June 1, 1951 mllliml-llu 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ARTHUR E. BIESEM EYER COURTNEY F. DOLAN INVENTORS ATTO R N EY -may be marketed at a low price.

Patented May 25, 1954 STITCH CONTROL MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Arthur E. Biesemcyer, Syracuse, and Courtney F. Dclan, Fayetteville, N. Y., assignors to New Process Gear Corporation, Syracuse, N. Y., a

corporation of Delaware Application June 1, 1951, Serial No. 229,474

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a stitch control mechanism for sewing machines and more particularly to a mechanism for selectively disabling the work feed.

In sewing machines, particularly in those of the household type where versatility is necessary, it is important that the entire work feed mechanism may be easily rendered inoperative 'so that the machine may be used for darning and mending. Furthermore, itiis most important that this work feed mechanism, with its adjusting and control mechanism, be simply and cheaply constructed so that the machine The primary object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a simple, easily accessible, means by which the work feed mechanism may be rendered inoperative.

Other objects and advantages pertaining to the construction of the device and to'the form and relation of the parts thereof will more fully appear from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsyin which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a sewing machine head showing portions of the. stitch control mechanism;

Figure 2 is a sectional view thereof on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the feed lift cam on the line '33 of Figure 1; v

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line i4 of Figure 6, showing the rear of the stitch control setting mechanism;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 2, showing the feed control and Figure 8 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 8-8 of Figure 2, showing the feed lift cam and associated parts. 7

:Referring more particularly to Figure, 1, a

sewing machine It), having the usual base ll,

motor driven flywheel i2, clutch 93, main shaft 14, presser foot I5, and needle it, is illustrated with the frame I? (Figure 6) secured to and above base ll, enclosed in a shroud l8. In Figure 2 may best be viewed the shuttle I 9 on "the shuttle shaft 20, the rock shaft 2!, and the 2 feed cam shaft 22, all three shafts being mutually parallel and 'journaled in the usual manner in suitably located, pendant bosses 23 of the base I I.

The needle I6 is reciprocated by mechanism not shown, but in conventional manner, by the rotation of the main shaft i l, driven by flywheel I2 through clutch It. A chain 25, driven by a sprocket (not shown) on main shaft I4, is used to drive the shuttle shaft 25 and cam shaft 22 in the usual manner as best illustrated in Figure 6.

Having briefly described the setting of the invention for the sufficient understanding of those familiar with the art, the feed mechanism and the feed control, the subject of the present invention, will now be described.

A chain sprocket 26 is secured to one end of the feed cam shaft 22 and a thrust collar 21 is likewise secured on the other side of the adjacent boss 23. At the other end of feed shaft 22, adjacent the shuttle I9 and easily accessible to the operator, a feed lift cam 3c is keyed at 3| (Figure 8) to rotate with the shaft 22 and is retained on the shaft by a ball and socket looking arrangement, best viewed in Figure 3. The spring pressed ball 32 is shown engaged in the socket 33a in shaft 22 with the ball and its spring in a hole 32a drilled partially through cam 36. The portion of the drilled hole at'32b on the opposite side of feed shaft 22 from the nose of cam 30 is used for insertion of the spring and ball 32 which are contained in the nose of cam 30.

Toward the left end of feed shaft 22 by a distance slightly in excess of the width of cam 30 is another socket 332). Shaft 22 is ground flat, as shown, between sockets 33a and 33b so that cam 30 may be easily slid from one position to the other as hereinafter described. Cam as has a hub or fingerpiece portion 34 at its left or exterior end which is knurled or grooved so as to be easily grasped, the fingerpiece 35 extending to the end of feed shaft 22 so as to be easily accessible to the operator The forked end of a lift cam follower arm 35 embraces the lift cam 39, and the arm 35 (Figures 2 and 8) extends across the machine. The other end of arm 35 is hingedly joined by pin 36 to the yoke arm 3? which is secured radially to one end of rock shaft 2|. The follower arm 35 is suitably offset about the shuttle shaft 2t and has secured thereto the conventional feed claw 38 which is adapted to move, by the action of the lift cam 30, up through a suitable opening in the 3 shuttle cover plate 39 of base H. Cover plate is removable or suitably hinged in conventional manner to provide access to shuttle l9 and the feed lift cam 35.

Intermediate the ends of shaft 22, a substantially cylindrical feed control cam lil is slidable on, and keyed to, shaft 22. Preferably the abovedescribed keyway iii, extended, is used for this purpose (Figure 2), and the key 35 may be integrally formed on the cam (Figure 5). The axis of the cylindrical body portion 55a of cam as is at an acute angle, of the order of 7 degrees, to the axis of the shaft 22, the cylinder axis crossing the shaft axis approximately midway of the length of the cylindrical portion tile, as best viewed in Figure 7. At one end of cam 45 is a portion 3% containing an annular groove 12 concentric with said shaft.

While the feed cams 5t and 45 may be made of any appropriate material, a plastic such as nylon is preferred. It has been found that when cams and 4e are made of nylon, they are self-lubrieating, showing almost no appreciable wear. They are quiet in operation and may be at all times easily adjusted to the desired position because or" their self -lubricating properties.

A cam ring 43 is keyed at M to control cam 4i? as shown in Figures 5 7, so that the cam 453 is slidable within the ring Q3 to vary the eccentric action of the cam, and ring t3 rotates with cam. ts and shaft 22. The cam iii being made of nylon, the ring ,3 is preferably made of metal to obtain good bearing surfaces and free sliding.

The feed control follower arm ii; (Figures 5 and 7) has one annular end adapted to nt in an ex terior annular follower groove it in the ring and a conventional retaining washer :li and snap ring 48 hold the follower arm aligned in groove 48. The surface of follower groove it is cylindrical and parallel with shaft 2?. and the groove extends in a direction normal to the axis of shaft 22 for reasons that will be apparent.

Follower arm 55 extends across the machine (Figures 2 and 5) and is hingedly joined, by pin 35, to the yoke arm 57: which is secured radial to rock shaft 2! at the opposite end thereof from yoke arm Spring clips 5i are used to retain the pins and 53 on their respective yoke arms. The follower arm is suitably onset about the shuttle shaft 2% and is guided for reciprocatory movement, transverse the machine and normal to shaft 22, by the pairs of pendant lugs 52-52 and 53-53 (Figure 2).

Embracing the groove of in earn it, a forked offset arm 55 (Figures 1 and 2) is fastened to the ii feed control operating lever 55 as by the rivets 56. The operatin lever 55 is secured to base i l in a groove therein for sliding movement therealong, parallel to shaft 22, by the plates 5'? and 58 secured by screws to base ii. An operating arm 55, joined to lever projects up through an opening in base ll near the frame ll as best seen in Figures and 6. Arm is suitably offset to be enclosed in the shroud i5 and behind the bracket 3:3 which is bolted to, and forms part of, base ii.

Bracket is? has a portion 5! which projects through a suitable opening in shroud i8, and the portion 5! is slotted at for the operating shaft 53--6i. This shaft is in two parts, the inner rod, like portion 64 being slidable, for ease in assembly, in telescopic fashion within the tube-like outer portion 53. A finger knob 55 is secured by a set screw 66 to the outer end of shaft portion 53 and a limiter plate E! is secured to the other end by 4: peening over the reduced end of the shaft as it projects through a hole in the plate 5? in wellknown style.

A spring washer a pointer 69 are mounted on the shaft adjacent knob the pointer having a s uare portion is which is prevented from rotating with shaft 6-5, when knob is turned, by the rectangular bosses ii and 72 projecting from the portion 5i of bracket on either side of the slot as best shown in Figure 6.

The inner portion 5'5 of the operating shaft is forked at one end and this forked end is rigidly clamped to the end of operating arm by means of the screw bolt l3 therethrough and nut is as best seen in Figure 4-. A limiter stop 45 also bolted thereto and a lock washer be The limiter plate ti has two wing-like arms, 57a and Bib, one on either side of shaft 33. Each arm has a series of stepped notches, Ida and 58b, arcuately arranged along one edge for engagement with the lugs El and respectively, projecting from the inner face of the bracket 60. Each successive step or notch it as at a uniformly increased radial distance from the center of shaft 53 and the steps on the two arms, file. and 52 1), are oppositely arranged. Each diametrically opposite pair of steps "it, in the arms 61a and it'll), is equidistant from the center of shaft The arm 61a has a projecting tongue 75 offset from its upper edge for engagement with the offset outer end 58 of the limiter stop 55. Tongue l9 and the end of stop 75 cooperate to limit the turning of knob 55 and the limiter plate 51 in a clockwise direction in a position with arms 57a and 51b vertically arranged and with the steps of 15a andlBb closest to shaft 55 in position, on either side of shaft 53, for engagement with the lugs Ti and '38, respectively, as lever 55 is slid in base H by moving knob 55 and shaft $25-43? to the left or right in slot Lever 55, from the forked arm 5:: to the offset is of such length that when shaft 5354 is at the center of slot 62 the stitch control cam 59 is slid within ring 43 to a position where the cylinder axis of cam 45 crosses the axis of cam shaft 22 in the transverse vertical plane through the center of the follower arm 45.

With shaft tit--34 at the center of slot f2, pointer 69 lies over the center, or zero mark, of a suitable scale 8i inscribed on the portion SI of bracket till. With the shaft in this position, knob 55 may be turned counter-clockwise the steps of '55s and farthest from shaft 63 engage the lugs i7 and 75, respectively, locking the control lever 55 in zero position.

The operation of the feed mechanism, in general, is conventional, consisting of the usual four motions, up and down, and back and forth. The rotation of the feed lift cam at on shaft 22 imparts an up and down motion to the lift cam follower arm 35. Feed claw 35, being secured thereto, is lifted once during each revolution of the shaft 22, to a position where it extends through the cooperating opening in the shuttle cover plate 39 of base H.

The feed control cam so, when adjusted to any but the zero position, imparts a back and forth, transverse, movement to the control cam follower arm 45. This back and forth motion, caused by the throw of cam 50, is transmitted by means of the rock shaft 2! and its radial yoke arms 50 and 31, to the follower arm 35 and feed claw 38. The transverse movement of the claw 38,

when extended above the shuttle cover plate 39, causes the work to be moved under needle Hi.

The operation of the feed control mechanism will now be apparent. As the oblique cylindrical cam is moved along shaft 22 on either side of the zero position, it will be evident that the cam ring 43 will be moved, in a plane normal to shaft 22, to a position in which it is not concentric with shaft 22. The farther from the zero position that earn All is moved, the greater this eccentricity will be and the greater the transverse throw of the cam 40.

The operator may conveniently move cam All by grasping the operating knob 65 and moving it to the left or right. Knob 65 carries with it the shaft 364, the offset arm 59 to which shaft 64 is rigidly secured, the sliding operating lever and the forked arm 54 which, being engaged in the groove 42, causes the control cam 40 to slide along shaft 22. The pointer 69, being carried by shaft 63, is moved and the feed control cam 40 may be set for any desired stitch length by moving pointer 69 to the appropriate mark on scale 8|.

The flywheel i2 is driven in a clockwise direction, as viewed from the right, movement of the top of the flywheel being away from the operator. Inspection of Figures 2, 5 and 8 will reveal that the control cam ll? and the lift cam 30 are so placed on shaft 22 that when the cam 49 is moved to the operators left the throw of the control cam 50 is away from the operator while the lift cam 39 is imparting an upward movement to the claw 38. When knob is to the left of the zero position on scale 8|, therefore, the feed 1 of the machine is forward, the work moving away from the operator.

It will be obvious that when knob 85 is moved to the right of the zero position, control cam 40 is also moved to the right and the throw of the cam will be in the opposite direction. The feed of the machine will then be reversed, the work moving toward the operator.

Referring now to Figure 4, it will be seen that when the machine is set to a stitch length of 3, for example, in a forward direction, as shown in Figure l, knob 65 may be turned by the operator in a counter-clockwise direction until the appropriate step 16a of the limiter plate 6'5 engages the shoulder ll. move knob 65 to his right Without turning the knob and the corresponding step 762) will engage shoulder 18, setting the machine for a stitch length of 3 in the opposite direction. Since each diametrically opposite step of 16a and 76b is equidistant from shaft 64, the corresponding reverse stitch length may be thus obtained for each setting of forward stitch length on scale 8|.

Referring now to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 8, it will be seen that the operator may easily render the whole feed mechanism inoperative by grasping the knurled end 34 of the feed lift cam 30 and drawing the cam from the position shown with the spring pressed ball 32 engaged in the socket 33a to the alternate position with ball 32 engaged in socket 331). In this latter position, the cam 30 is removed from engagement with the forked end of the feed lift lever 35, and the lever falls of its own weight on to cam shaft 22. To reengage the cam 36, the lever 35 is lifted and The operator may now ly embraced the cylindrical cam all at the correct angle, the operation of the cam would be the same except for the likelihood of uneven wear on the parts.

Cam ring rotates with cam 40 and is necessarily bored at the same angle as cam 40 with respect to shaft 22. The cam follower 45, being guided by the lugs 52-52 and 53-53, is closely contained in groove M5 by the retaining washer 4i and snap ring 28, and ring 43 is thus prevented from sliding, with cam til, along shaft 22 when the stitch length is changed. The surface of the follower groove &5 which is parallel to shaft 22 is, however, the cam surface which imparts to and fro, horizontal movement to the claw 38, through follower E5 and rock shaft 2|, the cam 48 contributing the eccentricity of the camming action in the desired amount.

It will also be apparent that the feed control cam so might equally well be of any convenient cross-sectional shape other than circular as shown, the central bore of cam ring 43 being of the same shape. So long as cam 40 is substantially cylindrical in shape, so that it may be slid along shaft 22 within ring 23 to vary the eccentricity of the oamming action, the operation of cam 49 and ring 43 will be the same.

It will also be noted that the hereinabove described arrangment of cams as and 30 on shaft 22, places the feed left cam 30 at the left end of shaft 22 immediately under the work supporting left end of the machine where it is easily accesible to the operator through the opening provided by the shuttle cover plate 39. The ribbed, fingerpiece portion at of cam 30 is therefore an easily accessible and cheaply made means for moving this cam to its disengaged position.

While there is herein described, and in the drawings shown, an illustrative embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but may comprehend other constructions, arrangement of parts, details and features without departing from the spirit of the invention. We desire to be limited, therefore, only by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a sewing machine of the type having a worksupporting base provided with an opening in its Work-supporting surface, a cover plate for said opening, said cover plate being displaceable to permit access to the parts located beneath said base adjacent said opening, a feed claw aperture in said cover plate, a feed claw normally located in said aperture, and a shuttle beneath said feed claw, in combination, a rotating feed shaft mounted beneath said base, an outboard bearing for said feed shaft secured to the underside of said base, said feed shaft having a free end extending beyond said outboard bearing and lo! cated adjacent said opening, a feed lift cam keyed to said free end of the feed shaft and slidable therealong, said cam having an eccentric portion, a cam follower adapted to be engaged by the eccentric portion of said cam, said feed claw being mounted on said cam follower, and said cam having rigid therewith a fingerpiece portion of smaller diameter than said eccentric portion and projecting from the side of the cam remote from said outboard bearing, said fingerpiece portion being located adjacent said opening for convenient access therethrough, whereby by grasping said fingerpiece portion through said opening said cam may be moved on said shaft from a position in engagement with said follower to a posi- 7 i-i-en of nomengagement therewith t0 render said Number feed claw inoperative. 718,988 2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, 1,879,191 having a spring pressed ball carried in said cam 2,144,802 and cooperating sockets therefor in said shaft, 5 2,440,031 whereby said cam may be locked in said engaged 2,541,790 and disengaged positions. 2,577,705

References Cited in the file of this patent q Number UNITED STATES PATENTS 19 242,851 Number Name Date 513,998 540,843 Richards June 11, 1895 914,715

Name Date Dial et a1 M Jan. 27, 1903 Goosman Sept. 27, 1932 I-Iohmann Jan. 24, 1939 Wainwright Apr. 20, 1948 Sug'den et a1 Feb. 13, 1951 Hoffmeister Dec. 4, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Jan. 22, 1912 Germany Dec. 4, 1930 France June 24, 1946 

